


Rats

by SpicyCheese



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-29
Updated: 2017-06-29
Packaged: 2018-11-21 06:42:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11351994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicyCheese/pseuds/SpicyCheese
Summary: “Holy shhhh– oh oooooooohLena! LENA!” Kara screams.Lena is moving before she even realizes it, thousands of possible scenarios flashing through her mind. She barrels around the corner from the kitchen where she was making dinner, spatula still in hand, only to find Kara on top of her dining room table, cowering in fear.This not how Lena pictured this night going.Or- the time Kara gets introduced to Lena's small, furry roommate.Bonus Fan Art included :)





	Rats

“Holy shhhh– oh oooooooohLena! LENA!” Kara screams.

Lena is moving before she even realizes it, thousands of possible scenarios flashing through her mind. She barrels around the corner from the kitchen where she was making dinner, spatula still in hand, only to find Kara on top of her dining room table, cowering in fear.

This not how Lena pictured this night going. 

She doesn’t see any immediate threats, so she starts slowly making her way towards the table. “Kara, what’s happening, what are-“

“Lena- Don’t. Move,” Kara eeks out through clenched teeth, body frozen but eyes trained on something on the floor near the base of the couch.

Lena does what she’s told, but is hardly satisfied with the answer. “Kara…?” Lena asks again. “What is over there?” Her mind again flips through the rolodex of things. Bomb comes to mind, but why be on top of a table?

When Kara doesn’t respond, Lena decides to take matters into her own hands. She cautiously approaches the spot in question, circling around the far end of the sofa so she can get eyes on whatever it is before she gets too close.

“Lena- no- Lena-“

She ignores Kara’s meeker-than-usual pleas and continues to approach. When finally makes her way around and spots the offending item, she sighs with relief letting the tension flow out of her body along with it. Abandoning the last of her hesitancy she casually walks to the item in question before bending to retrieve it.

“Lena! No! Lena it’s going to- _OH MY GOD_.“ Kara’s tone is a yelled whisper, like someone trying not to scream in a library, and the exclamation at the end is nothing short of horrified disgust.

“Guess I forgot to warn you,” Lena smiles, cradling the large grey rat in her hands.

“What are you doing!?! Put that down and I’ll call the exterminator and-“

“Kara,” Lena says slowly, trying not to laugh. “This is my _pet_ rat, Tesla 4. Tesla, meet Kara.”

“Oh. Oh… that’s uh…” Kara guppies for words, expression still trying to land on something less along the lines of revulsion, but failing. In the end she shakes her head vigorously, “Nope, no, no I’m sorry, that is just disgusting.”

“She is _not_!” and honestly Lena is a bit too surprised and offended to mask her own reaction either. “She’s _lovely_ ,” and she gives Tesla a kiss on the head for good measure.

“ _HhURGUK_ ,” Kara makes a noise that sounds like a muzzled gag reflex. “What is _wrong_ with you?! Think of how many diseases that thing probably has! ”

“Actually,” she says, placing Tesla on her shoulder like a parrot. “Rats are quite clean. They even-“

She’s interrupted by a buzzing sound from the kitchen. “-Oh that’s the eggplant! Hang on,” she strides back to the task at hand.

Turning off the oven, she removes the casserole dish and, spatula still in hand, slices down into it to test it. It’s perfect.

“You allow it in the kitchen too? Near the food?” the glum voice behind her asks.

Lena turns to face Kara, who’s left her perch on the table and is now standing a few feet beyond the entrance to the kitchen.

“I allow her almost everywhere any other pet would go. I don’t see what’s wrong with her being in the kitchen.”

“Name one time a rat in a kitchen has been a good thing.”

“There was that movie _Ratatouille_ …” but Kara just frowns in response. Lena sighs, “Kara, if you’d like I can put her away. I must say though, I’m surprised the _Girl of Steel_ would be so unnerved by something so benign.”

Lena’s smile fades, as Kara squirms a bit at the moniker. Kara had only confessed to being Supergirl the week prior and while Lena has known her identity for quite a while before that, talking about it out loud was still as scary as it was novel.

Kara clears her throat a little awkwardly before responding.

“One of the first things I learned about in school when I uh… arrived was about the Black Plague,” she says quietly, eyes now fixed elsewhere, away from Lena’s. “I learned about how it almost wiped out a whole civilization and coming from a planet that just-“ she breaks, shaking her head. “ _Rats are dangerous and carry disease_. It was one of my first lessons on Earth.”

“Oh,” Lena says quietly. _Open mouth, insert foot._ She feels awful now. “I’m so sorry, that must have been… I can’t imagine.”

Kara just shrugs, and Lena feels worse somehow.

“Here, let me put her away, and we’ll start over. I want things to feel comfortable and safe, okay?”

Kara nods, and Lena makes her way slowly enough towards the entryway to give Kara plenty of space and time to steer clear.

Making her way across the living room and into the office on the side, Lena bends down and places the rat carefully her cage, closing the little door behind it. The enclosure was large enough for a big dog, and customized just for rats. She knows this because she made the enclosure herself, for her first rat, when she was younger. Lex helped her actually. They’d spent the better part of a week drawing up ‘blueprints’ for the design of it and another two weeks cutting and soldering until they were satisfied.

The feeling of Lex’s hand on her head, messing her hair and telling her she did a great job, still tugs at her and there’s a tightness in her chest as if it were yesterday.

“Tesla is an interesting name.” Kara’s voice nudges Lena out of the memory thankfully. Over her shoulder she can see Kara standing just a foot or two behind her at the door. Close, but still eyeing the cage warily.

“I like to think so,” Lena smiles. “An homage to a personal hero.”

“And ‘4’ ?”

“Rats don’t exactly have the longest lifespan.”

“Wait, you’ve named four consecutive pets the same name?” Kara sounds indignant, like she’s insulted for the rat.

“I like the name okay? And using the same one is just efficient.”

“Well, how long have you had her? Tesla4, I mean.”

“About a year. She’s still young.”

Kara nods, and they both lapse into silence. Around them the apartment still hums with ambient sound; the TV blabbing a commercial from the other room, the hum of the air conditioning keeping out the summer heat. The squeak of Tesla’s wheel joins the chorus as she runs and Lena smiles at the way the rat’s tail thumps behind her.

“I never had a pet.”

Kara joins her at the cage now, looking down at the spinning wheel as well. “The Danvers were too busy and away too often to have one.”

“What about before. Did they have

“My cousin’s family had a… well, I guess a dog.

“And they really make good pets? “

“They’re smart, social, loyal. They love to play and I think they’re cute too.” Lena pauses, searching Kara’s face before hesitantly offering. “You want to pet her? I’ll hold her if you do.”

Kara thinks for a second, that little line of concentration knitting between her brows. Finally she nods, “Yeah, okay.”

Lena smiles, but tries not to get too excited. She’s deliberate about her actions next, reaching in and lifting Tesla tenderly out of her cage. She stands very still and holds the rat with two hands. “Go ahead, she doesn’t bite. I promise.”

Kara reaches over slowly, running the flat of her index finger down the length of Tesla’s back a few times.

Lena arches an eyebrow in question.

Kara shrugs. “Well, she’s softer than I thought she’d be.”

“Well, that’s something,” Lena grins, before placing the rat back in the cage.

“The tail still creeps me out.”

“Understandable.”

Standing side by side in front of the cage, Kara’s hand brushes against hers. The touch is electric and before she can talk herself out of it, Lena slides her hand into Kara’s.

Kara looks down at their clasped hands, just as surprised by the gesture, and for a moment Lena completely stops breathing. She shouldn’t have done this. What was she thinking? Inviting Kara over for dinner is one thing, easily played off as an evening between friends, but this? This is pushing it a bit. Pushing it them towards something Lena has wanted for a while but now that she’s finally put herself out there she’s just not sure. This is very new and scary and thrilling and oh god does she hopes she hasn’t ruined everything.

Lena has just begun to figure out how she can play this off when Kara gives her fingers a funny wiggle where they’re laced between Lena’s. She gives Lena’s hand a squeeze and when Lena looks up she sees Kara beaming. It’s only then does she finally resume breathing.

“We should eat something,” Kara offers, when Lena can’t seem to make her brain come up with anything.

“Yes. Good idea.”

Kara makes a half a step towards the kitchen, but makes a point of not letting go of Lena’s hand. Instead, she gives a gentle tug to follow suit, to come with her. Lena’s not sure she’s smiled that hard in a while.

The rest of the evening is far less eventful. There is no more hand holding but their hug goodbye seems to linger just a bit longer and Kara’s “See you soon?” has a slightly different quality to it.

Lena sits and jots down a quick grocery list for tomorrow- all of Tesla’s favorite treats. Lena’s not sure where things stand or where they’re going between Kara and herself but she’s sure that if not for her pet, the evening wouldn’t have taken the turn it did. For that, Tesla gets all the pumpkin seeds and rice cake crumbles she can eat.

*_*_*_*_*

  [](http://s1376.photobucket.com/user/smirkgirl15/media/IMG_3550_zpspxuzrcvf.jpg.html)


End file.
